About The AIAPrograms & Initiatives

Page Tools

Advertisements

AIA Communities by Design in collaboration with the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota has developed a study authorized by US Congress to explore the role of design in transportation. Well-designed transportation projects can shape a community in ways that go far beyond the project’s original purposes. Anecdotal evidence and advocacy efforts suggest that well-designed transportation projects positively impact communities. There is neither substantial organized quantifiable or qualitative data, nor is there a comprehensive guide for communities to maximize or integrate the diverse benefits of such projects.
The study’s two main goals are to measure the multiple enhancements well-designed transportation projects can bring to communities, and to provide principles and practices for communities, transportation professionals, designers, and policymakers to adapt to their needs. With funding from the Federal Highway Administration, the American Institute of Architects contracted with the Center For Transportation Studies to carry out the research for this study.

An interdisciplinary team analyzed nearly 30 transportation projects in communities of different sizes and in a variety of locations across the nation. They examined the benefits of well-designed transportation projects to communities in three overall categories:

Research Reports
Research reports for this study include individual reports for each research project and a synthesis that includes the study's key findings and highlights major themes and recommendations of all the research projects.

Research Team
To address the interdisciplinary issues raised by this study, CTS assembled and led a research team drawn from multiple fields including geography, urban design, public policy, architecture, landscape architecture, and civil engineering. Robert Johns, CTS director, provided overall study leadership with assistance from Lance Neckar.